As the turkey-carving season approaches, we can also carve some time off the huge burden of daily duties to devote to more creative thinking. Our brains even needs the nutrition of thinking about new ideas.
One of my favourite TV series is The Day the Universe Changed by James Burke. Today I was re-watching part of it, during which he made the statement that the modern world is characterized by our ability to juxtapose two seemingly disparate ideas and create a third idea. Unfortunately, another characteristic of our society is excessively scanning instant electronic media, preventing our brains from putting any ideas together.
The end of the year is an excellent time for gathering our thoughts. Mark off an hour or two in your calendar on several days over the last weeks of December. As your hectic office hours gallop on, make a note of ideas that need more thought. Then, when you shut your door on your colleagues for the time you scheduled for thinking, review your notes and devote the mindfulness they require. The New Year will be happier for your investment in your own creativity.
I seem to remember hearing that we 'should' spend 10% of our time thinking about our work, in the sense of 'how to do it better', 'what to stop/start doing', and so on. Scheduling time sure seems to be the way to go!
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